Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In one ill-fated fundraiser , Mitt Romney managed to offend Palestinians , Latinos and some of the same people he 's counting on for support if he wants to unseat President Barack Obama .

It is n't the first time Romney 's oratory fumbles have put his campaign on its heels , handed opponents material to push the stereotype of him as an out-of-touch businessman and provoked members of the party 's conservative base to question his worthiness as their standard-bearer .

`` Everybody has the same reaction : ` dumb , dumb , dumb , ' '' said Larry Sabato , director of the University of Virginia 's Center for Politics , adding that Romney 's gaffes reinforce a sitcom-like caricature of the candidate .

Opinion : What 's wrong with Romney

After the tape , recorded during a May 17 private fundraiser at the home of Sun Capital executive Marc Leder , made the rounds on Monday , Romney convened a hastily scheduled news conference Monday night in which he said his comments were `` off the cuff '' and `` not elegantly stated . ''

However , he defended the main message of his remarks , saying he that while he could have made them `` more clearly , '' he said he was trying to point out the differences between his and Obama 's campaigns .

Democratic pundits gloated and were content to let Romney 's words speak for themselves .

`` I mean , I do n't think Democrats had much to say at all . I mean , there was n't much left to say , '' Democratic strategist Richard Socarides said on CNN 's `` Early Start . '' `` Look , I mean , I think that , you know , big picture , this is a -- was a devastating moment for Governor Romney , potentially fatal , as people start to focus on this campaign . ''

Narratives at work

Another Democratic strategist said that Romney 's comments played into the two narratives that they have pushed : `` First , that he does n't care about the middle class . Well , thanks for the help , Mitt , '' Paul Begala , a CNN contributor and a senior adviser in the leading pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA , said on CNN 's `` AC360 . ''

`` On the second front ... in order to give big tax cuts for the rich , Mitt Romney is going to have to raise taxes on the middle class . Well , when you 're claiming to wealthy people that 47 percent of Americans do n't pay federal income tax , I think a lot of those people , retirees , working class folks are going to listen to that and think , ` Gee , I guess the Democrats are right . I guess he does want to raise the taxes on the middle class in order to help the rich . ' ''

Republican strategist Margaret Hoover , who served in the Bush White House , said the comments would wound Romney but it would n't be a fatal one .

Video threatens Romney campaign

`` You can understand while he tripped over his words , it probably was n't characterized the best way . I think we can all agree with that , '' she said on `` Early Start . '' `` You can understand what he was trying to say . Do we have a systemic problem in this country when you have almost 50 percent of people not paying any federal income taxes ? And he 's running on a platform that would fundamentally change the tax code so that you lower the base , broaden the base and lower tax rates across the board . ''

Reaction from other conservatives was mixed . While some some applauded Romney 's comments , others saw them as reinforcing why they questioned his legitimacy .

CNN contributor and conservative blogger Erick Erickson tweeted : `` Dammit ! I 'm just now seeing these Romney secret videos . We need that guy on the campaign trail ! ''

Others , such as New York Times columnist , David Brooks , wrote `` Romney 's comment is a country-club fantasy . It 's what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other . It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney . ''

And conservative commentator Bill Kristol , a frequent critic of Romney , called the remarks `` stupid and arrogant . ''

`` It 's worth recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who do n't pay income taxes are Romney supporters â $ '' especially of course seniors -LRB- who might well `` believe they are entitled to heath care , '' a position Romney agrees with -RRB- , as well as many lower-income Americans -LRB- including men and women serving in the military -RRB- who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they 're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan . So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him , but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him , '' Kristol posted on The Weekly Standard on Tuesday .

Romney campaign responds

A Romney adviser tried to put the comments in context :

`` What he 's saying is there are people out there who do n't pay taxes , unfortunately , '' Bay Buchanan , a senior adviser , said on CNN 's `` Starting Point '' on Tuesday . `` They 're in a position where they 're dependent on government , and those individuals are -- those Americans are voting for Barack Obama . They 're in his backyard . And so those are people that I 'm not going to be able to reach with my 20 percent tax cut or my cuts in spending because they would be concerned . It 's not going to impact them getting a 20 percent tax cut . They do n't pay taxes . ''

Romney 's comments were recorded by a hidden camera and posted Monday afternoon on the left-leaning news websites Mother Jones and The Huffington Post .

Romney argued nearly half of Americans will vote for Obama because they rely on government support .

Adding to his argument about entitlement , Romney said his `` job is not to worry about those people . ''

He also joked about wishing he had Latino heritage and talks about a Chinese factory his former firm purchased .

A clip released Tuesday morning showed Romney questioning the prospect of ever reaching peace between Israelis and Palestinians , calling a path to a solution in the region `` almost unthinkable to accomplish . ''

`` I 'm torn by two perspectives in this regard , '' Romney is shown saying in a clip that only shows only the candidate speaking and does not include any questions that may have prompted his remarks . `` One is the one which I 've had for some time , which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace , and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish . ''

Opinion : How Romney really feels about the GOP

With two weeks until the first presidential debate and less than two months before the election , the timing could n't be worse , political experts say .

The Romney campaign had banked on its convention last month to make a favorable introduction of Romney to the electorate , a large part of it just beginning to pay attention to the election . But a CNN/ORC International poll conducted after the convention showed Romney gained only a 1 % rise in the polls while Obama gained three to four times that much following the Democrats ' convention .

Romney 's acceptance speech was largely overshadowed by a rambling , off-the-cuff monologue by actor Clint Eastwood , which preceded it .

Last week , Romney was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for an aggressive and politically charged response to violent attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya . After the attacks , Romney in a statement said , `` It 's disgraceful that the Obama administration 's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions , but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks . ''

Series of gaffes

Over the weekend , Politico posted a story that detailed tensions within Romney 's campaign and on Monday the campaign launched a new effort to inject energy and fresh policy details with a series of speeches and advertising .

`` There 's been a bit of bad luck involved in some of it , '' said John Geer , chairman of Vanderbilt University 's political science department . `` It 's not a surprise that these blunt remarks are going to be made in front of this type of audience . Here 's a guy who 's trying to work on his image about caring and this does n't help him at all . ''

Romney has been plagued by a series of gaffes during his presidential run .

He joked with unemployed workers in Florida in June 2011 that he , too , was also unemployed .

In January of this year , he told a crowd of supporters that he likes `` being able to fire people '' in a talk about insurance companies . He went on to say that if someone did n't provide adequate services , he liked to be able to find someone else who would . But critics took the first part of the quote used it to paint him as a venture capitalist focused only on a company 's bottom line .

Controversial video shows candid Romney

In a February interview , Romney told CNN that he is `` not concerned about the very poor , '' citing the safety net in place by the American government and said that his primary focus is the middle class . But it was the first part of the sentence that critics pounced on as evidence of Romney 's elitism , while conservatives said the safety net he talked about only encouraged a welfare state .

Later that month , at a campaign stop at the Daytona 500 NASCAR race , Romney told a reporter that while he might not follow the sport as closely as the most ardent fans , `` I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners . ''

And at an event in Detroit , he tried to prove he was behind the American automotive industry by saying that he drove a Ford Mustang and a Chevrolet pickup and that his wife , Ann , `` drives a couple of Cadillacs . ''

Defenders sought to defuse the controversy by pointing to Obama 's comments during the 2008 Democratic primaries about `` bitter '' people who `` cling to guns or religion . ''

But those comments came long before the general election and did little to harm him with voters .

Romney 's comments will serve as a distraction in coming days but there 's still opportunities for him to get back on track with a weak economy and high jobless rate .

`` He 's a tough campaigner Romney . ... I do n't think one should rule him out , '' Geer said . `` The fundamentals are still a problem for Obama . ''

iReport : Weigh in about Romney

I 'm the 47 % but - You 're WRONG Mitt Romney !

4,000 millionaires in Romney 's ' 47 % '

Jim Acosta , Peter Hamby , Ashley Killough , Kevin Liptak , Jeanne Sahadi and Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report .

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GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney 's verbal gaffes have once again stymied his campaign 's ability to control the narrative

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Democrats were gleeful , while Republicans left scrambling after Romney 's comments

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Less than two months before the election , Romney 's challenge is to steer clear of speaking slip ups ; hammer Obama on the economy